The BIO international convention, being held this week in Boston, is the place to hear the latest news from the biotech industry. On Tuesday, two contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) in the cell and gene therapy industry, RoslinCT and Lykan Bioscience, announced their integration, creating a unified business that will operate under the RoslinCT brand. The integration was facilitated by GHO Capital, a global investment firm.
RoslinCT, established in 2006 in Edinburgh, U.K., traces its roots back to the historic cloning of Dolly the Sheep at the Roslin Institute within the University of Edinburgh in 1997. RoslinCT was founded to translate and apply this science to the development of human medicines.
The newly formed organization is equipped with 22 cGMP cell therapy processing suites in Edinburgh and Hopkinton, MA (the home of Lykan Bioscience), and will offer a range of services, including process development, analytical testing, clinical and commercial cGMP manufacturing, and cGMP iPSC cell line development, gene editing, and differentiation.
RoslinCT produces clinical-grade human pluripotent stem cells. In doing so, it supports the development of cell therapies based on a broad range of cell types. The company’s most advanced program, which is currently pending marketing authorization, is the first CRISPR-edited stem cell-based therapy for a major disease.
“We are thrilled about the integration of two leading organizations in the advanced cell and gene therapy space,” noted Patrick Lucy, president and CEO of Lykan Bioscience, “resulting in 22 cGMP processing suites, enhanced expertise, resources, and transatlantic cGMP manufacturing capabilities to support the development and commercialization of advanced cell and gene therapies worldwide.”
